Carla Gem Buyo

Metro Exclusive: Three Promising Designers Reimagine Queer Femininity, Filipino Cinema, and the Streets of Manila

Article (news)

<p>Three designers, three distinct voices came together at <strong>MNL Fashion Week</strong>.</p><div><br></div><p><strong>Yana Kalaw</strong>, <strong>Killjoy Studios</strong>, and <strong>Lilah Roch&eacute;</strong> <strong></strong>each brought a deeply personal story to the runway, featuring pieces in collaboration with JA<strong></strong>G.</p><div><br></div><p><strong>Yana Kalaw</strong> paid homage to her sexuality in <em>Queer Notes</em> with a prologue shaped by her experience growing up as a queer woman. Having once felt the pressure to look or dress a certain way within queer relationships, Yana&#39;s new collection pushes back against those expectations. Instead, she wants to embrace femininity on her own terms and create space for queer women to feel seen, heard, and free to simply be themselves. &ldquo;This collection is me on a platter,&rdquo; she says, describing herself as an emotional designer who uses clothing to communicate what can be difficult to put into words.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17884787021643.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Michelle Dee in Yana Kalaw Studios at MNL Fashion Week</span></span></span><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17884787574826.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Yana Kalaw at MNL Fashion Week</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17884787788628.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Backstage with designer Yana Kalaw</span></span></span></div><p>The city becomes a memory in<strong>&nbsp;Kill Joy Studios</strong>&rsquo; Kalye Tres Mixtape. Named after a street in Pasay, designer <strong>Eugene Malabad</strong> mixes fragments of the past, future desires, film references, and his accumulated design techniques through the years, while carrying forward the street and public-transportation imagery of his thesis collection, <em>Rotonda</em>.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17884789884449.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Backstage with desginer Eugene Malabad of Kill Joy Studios</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178847901594611.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Kill Joy Studios at MNL Fashion Week</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178847903676710.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Kill Joy Studios at MNL Fashion Week</span></span></span></div><p>The sampaguita girl has entered a different kind of Manila. In <em>Sampaguita Queenpin</em>,<strong>&nbsp;Lilah Roch&eacute;&nbsp;</strong>looks closer to home, drawing from the late &rsquo;60s to early &rsquo;80s Philippine action films she grew up watching with her parents. Inspired by figures like FPJ and Rudy Fernandez, Lilah reimagines the familiar sampaguita girl as a powerful female counterpart to Asiong Salonga, with each look following her transformation from churchgoer to queenpin. The collection also reflects Lilah&#39;s own design language: structured, restrained, and grounded in garment construction.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178847882440415.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Lilah Roch&eacute; at MNL Fashion Week</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178847887230512.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Backstage with designer Lilah Roch&eacute;</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178847890474514.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Lilah Roch&eacute; at MNL Fashion Week</span></span></span><em>Photographed by Pat Buenaobra</em></div><div><em>Creative Directed by Carla Buyo</em></div><div><em>Assisted by Sophia Ancheta and Zoe Althea Agnes</em></div><div><em>Written by Zoe Althea Agnes</em></div><div><em><br></em></div><div><em>Read more MNL Fashion Week stories on Metro.Style</em></div>

<p><i>Yana Kalaw, Lilah Roché, and Kill Joy Studios bring deeply personal perspectives to the runway at MNL Fashion Week.</i></p>

Yana Kalaw, Lilah Roché, and Kill Joy Studios bring deeply personal perspectives to the runway at MNL Fashion Week.

Metro Exclusive: Three Promising Designers Reimagine Queer Femininity, Filipino Cinema, and the Streets of Manila

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Metro Exclusive: Three Promising Designers Reimagine Queer Femininity, Filipino Cinema, and the Streets of Manila

Metro.Style

Published September 04, 2026 07:00 AM PHT

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Updated September 04, 2026 08:59 AM PHT

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mnl fashion week

filipino fashion designer

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yana kalaw studios

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eugene malabad

lilah roché

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